“Year of the Dog”
Director Mike White
Paramount Vintage
(Out Of 5)
The only word to describe “Year of the Dog” is ““ puzzlingly, uncomfortably, though sometimes amusingly ““ awkward.
A string of awkward characters recite awkward lines, complete with awkward pauses, a painstakingly awkward love story and a most unsatisfying awkward ending.
Molly Shannon of “Saturday Night Live” starts on a new string of movie roles as Peggy, a meek but chirpy secretary absolutely head-over-heels for Pencil ““ her dog. But when the puppy’s fate takes a tragic turn, Peggy’s smile and her life as she knows it are turned upside down. Through the veterinarian’s office, she meets Newt (Peter Sarsgaard), whose animal-friendly lifestyle convinces Peggy to turn to veganism and animal-cruelty protests to gain a sense of personal purpose.
Unfortunately, the plot is as unnecessarily overdramatic as it seems.
Though “Year of the Dog” is marked as a comedy, it follows in the trend of those I-thought-this-was-going-to-make-me-laugh-but-it-almost-made-me-cry movies.
Writer-director Mike White shows promise as a first-time director, but as a successful veteran screenwriter (“School of Rock,” “The Good Girl”) he completely fails to one-up himself ““ or even compete with his previous work. While the concept has comedic potential, the screenplay is undoubtedly the film’s weakest link.
As Peggy, Shannon bears the film’s biggest and most curious burden as she strikes a balance between the sweet, innocent, puppy-loving secretary and the hard-headed animal rights activist. Her emotional range is hit-and-miss, but marginally convincing if not simply disturbing.
Peter Sarsgaard (“Garden State”) is simply great as the ambiguously asexual dog trainer, but the talents of Regina King (“Ray” and “24”), John C. Reilly and others are wasted with picture-frame shots inhabited by only mildly comical babble.
In fact, the film elicits the most laughs when departing from Peggy’s animal humor with Peggy’s prim and proper brother (Thomas McCarthy) and sister-in-law, played splendidly by Laura Dern.
Perhaps “Year of the Dog” is a mockery of an overabundance of “message movies” in American cinema. Or perhaps it is a criticism of the tree-hugging, sign-holding activists who sacrifice a life of normalcy with the goal of creating change.
But it is more likely that this darkly comic comment on the destructive nature of activism is purely accidental. Despite a blatant argument that “puppies are cute,” this movie manages not to say much of anything at all.